Townes Van Zandt Album

Ira Hayes,
Ira Hayes

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Gather round me people there's a story I would tell
About a brave young Indian you should remember well
From the land of the Pima Indian, a proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land

Down the ditches for a thousand years
The water grew Ira's peoples' crops
'Till the white man stole the water rights
And the sparklin' water stopped

Now Ira's folks were hungry
And their land grew crops of weeds
When war came, Ira volunteered
And forgot the white man's greed

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill,
Two hundred and fifty men
But only twenty-seven lived
to walk back down again

And when the fight was over
And when Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high
Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Ira returned a hero
Celebrated through the land
He was wined and speeched and honored
Everybody shook his hand

But he was just a Pima Indian
No water, no crops, no chance
At home nobody cared what Ira'd done
And when did the Indians dance

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Then Ira started drinkin' hard
Jail was often his home
They'd let him raise the flag and lower it
like you'd throw a dog a bone

He died drunk one mornin'
Alone in the land he fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch
Was a grave for Ira Hayes

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes
But his land is just as dry
And his ghost is lyin' thirsty
In the ditch where Ira died

And when you're sitting there
In your silk upholstered chair
Talking to some rich folks that you know
Well I hope you won't see me
In my ragged company
You know I could never be alone

Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of the Underground
Send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flower by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

And you're sitting back
In your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby days
I'll be in my basement room
With a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pain away

Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of the Underground
Send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of the Underground
Send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave
No I won't forget to put roses on your grave

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Far across the blue water lives an old German's daughter
By the banks of the old river Rhine
Where I loved her and left her but I can't forget her
I miss my pretty fraulein

Fraulein, fraulein, look up toward the heavens
Each night when the starts start to shine
By the same stars above you, I swear that I love you
You are my pretty fraulein



When my memories wander a-way over yonder
To the sweetheart that I left behind
In a moment of glory a face comes before me
The face of my pretty fraulein

Fraulein, fraulein, walk down by the river
Pretend that your hand's holdin' mine
By the same stars above you I swear that I love you
You are my pretty fraulein

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My starter won't start this mornin'
And I'm about to lose my mind
My starter won't start this mornin'
And I'm about to lose my mind
I wanna go and see my little baby
But my machine is all outa time

I got water in my gas tank
and my battery's all run down
I got water in my gas tank
and my battery's all run down
If I don't see my little baby
I'm gonn' leave this lonesome town

Well blow your harmonica son...
(Lazy Lester's solo)

My starter won't start this mornin'
And my car won't do a thing
My starter won't start this mornin'
No my car won't do a thing
I must begot some kind of bad disconnection
Somewhere in my piston ring

We crossed the wild Pecos
We forded the Nueces
We swum the Guadalupe
And we followed the Brazos
Red River runs rusty
The Wichita clear
But down by the Brazos
I courted my dear
Singing li, li, li, le, le, le
Lend me your hand
Li, li, li, le, le, le
Lend me your hand
Li, li, li, le, le, le
Lend me your hand
There's many a river
That waters the land
Now the fair Angelina
Runs glossy and gliding
the crooked Colorado
Runs weaving and winding
The slow San Antonio
Courses and plains
But I never will walk
By the Brazos again
She kissed me and she hugged me
And she called me her dandy
The Trinity's muddy
But the Brazos quick sandy
She kissed me and she hugged me
And she called me her own
But down by the Brazos
She left me alone
Now the girls of Little River
They're plump and they're pretty
The Sabine and the Sulphur
Hold beauties a'many
The banks of the Neches
There are girls by the score
But down by the Brazos
I'll wander no more

Out from the wide Pacific to the broad Atlantic shore
She climbs flowery mountains, over hills and by the shore
Although she's tall and handsome and she's known quite well by all
She's a regular combination of the Wabash Cannonball
Oh, the eastern states are dandy, so the western people say
Chicago, Rock Island, St. Louis by the way
To the lakes of Minnesota, where the rippling waters fall
No changes to be taken on the Wabash Cannonball

Oh, listen to the jingle, the rumor and the roar
As she glides along the woodlands, over hills and by the shore
She climbs the flowery mountains, hear the merrier hobo squall
She glides along the woodlands, the Wabash Cannonball

Oh, here's old Daddy Cleton, let his name forever be
And long be remembered in the courts of Tennessee
For he is a good old rounder, till the curtain round him fall
He'll be carried back to victory on the Wabash Cannonball

I have rode the I.C. Limited, also the Royal Blue
Across the eastern countries, on mail car number two
I have rode those highball trains from coast to coast, that's all
But I have found no equal to the Wabash Cannonball

Oh, listen to the jingle the rumor and the roar
As she glides along the woodlands, over hills and by the shore
She climbs the flowery mountains, hear the merrier hobo squall
She glides along the woodlands, the Wabash Cannonball

I don't want no wom',
If her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine.
I don't want no w'man,
If her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine.
Yeah, ya know, she ain't no good for nothin but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin rats all the time.

Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin, I's a-comin to go have some fun."
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like,
One from a burnin barn.
I just don't want, want no woman,
Boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine.
Whoa, ya know she ain't no good for nothin but trouble.
Vets keep ya buyin rats all the time.
Yeah, you know rats and wigs'll get ya killed.

Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin, I's comin to go have some fun."
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like,
One from a burnin barn.
I say, I don't want no woman,
Boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine.
You know she ain't no good for nothin but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin rats all the time.

[No lyrics]

[No lyrics]

Everytime my baby and me go up town
police come and they knock me down
Cocaine all around my brain
Hey baby, better come here quick.
This old cocaine is making me sick.
Cocaine all around my brain.
Yonder comes by baby, she's dressed in red
She's got a shot-gun, says she's gonna kill me dead.
Cocaine all around my brain
Hey baby, better come here quick.
This old cocaine is making me sick.
Cocaine all around my brain.
Early one morning, half past four
cocaine came knockin' on my door.
Cocaine all around my brain
Hey baby, you better come here quick.
This old cocaine is making me sick.
Cocaine all around my brain.
Cocaine's for horses and it's not for men
Doctor said it kill you, but he don't say when.
Cocaine all around my brain.
Hey baby, you better come here quick.
This old cocaine is making me sick.
Cocaine all around my brain.

The news is out all over town
That you've been seen a runnin' round
I know that I should leave but then
I just can't go, you win again.

This heart of mine could never see
What everybody knew but me
Just trusting you was my great sin
What can I do, you win again.

I'm sorry for your victim now
'Cause soon his head like mine will bow
He'll give his heart but all in vain
And someday say you win again.

You have no heart, you have no shame
You take true love and give the blame
I guess that I should not complain
I love you still, you won again...

I come from a long line
High and low and in between
Same as you
Hills of golden
Hails of poison
Time's thrown me through
And I believe I've come to learn
That turnin' round
Is to become confusion
And the gold's no good for spending
And the poison's hungry waiting

What can you leave behind
When you're flyin' lightning fast
And all alone?
Only a trace, my friend,
Spirit of motion born
And direction grown.
A trace that will not fade
In frozen skies
Your journey will be
And if her shadow doesn't seem much company
Who said it would be?

There is the highway
And the homemade lovin' kind
The highway's mine
And us ramblers are getting the travelling down
You fathers build with stones
That stand and shine
Heaven's where you find it
And you can't
Take too much with you
But daddy, don't you listen
It's just this highway talkin'

All things at our life
Are brothers in the soil
And in the sky
And I believe it
With my blood
If not my eyes
I don't know why we can't
Be brothers here
I know we should be
Answers don't seem easy
And I'm wonderin'
If they could be

When he offers his hand
Don't you turn him away
He can lead you to light
Through the darkest of days
With his love wrapped around you
You can't go astray
When he offers his hand
Don't you turn him away

In a world full of sorrow
A world full of hate
You can't wait for tomorrow
'cause tomorrow's to late
Come and stand amongst the pilgrims
In their golden array
When he offers his hand
Don't you turn him away

I am no simon,
No matthew, no paul
It don't take an apostle
To answer his call
And it don't take a prophet
To stand up and say
When he offers his hand
Don't you turn him away

I hope as I'm leavin'
My message is clear
It's a fool that would turn down
A gift that's so dear
When he offers his blood
Your depts to repay
Now he offers his hand
Don't you turn him away